How does sociology study religion ?

(a) One it conducts empirical studies of how religions actually function in society and its relationship to other institution.

(b) Two, it uses a comparatve method.

(c) It investigates religious beliefs, practices and institutions in relation to other aspacts of society and culture.

II. Use of empiricial method by sociologist: The empirical method means that the sociologist does not have a judgemental approach to religious phenomena. The comparative method is important because in a sense it brings all societies on level with each other. It helps to study it without bias and prejudice. The sociological perspective means that religious life can be made intelligible only by relating it to domestic life, economic life and political life.

III. Societies and features of Religion : Religione exists in all known societies, although religion beliefs and practices very from culture to culture. Characteristics that all religious seem to share are : set of symbols, invorking feelings of reverence or a we; ritual or ceremonies; a community of believers.

IV. Rituals association with religion :

(a) The rituals associated with religion are very diverse. Ritual acts may include praying, chanting, singing, eating certain kinds of food (or refraining from doing so on).

(b) Since ritual acts are oriented towards religious symbols, they are usually seen as quite distinct from the habits and procedures of ordinary life. Lighting a candle or diya to honour the divine differs completely in its significance from doing so simply to light a room.

(c) Religions rituals are after carried out by an individual in his/her personal everyday life. But all religious also involve caremonials practised collectively by belives. Regular ceremonies normally occur in special places -Churches, mosque, temples, shirins.

V. Religion and sacred relation: Religion is about the sacred realm. Think of what members of different religions do before entering a sacred scalm. For example covering one's head, or not covering one's head, taking off shoes, or wearing particular kind of clothes, etc. What is common to them all is the feeling of awe, recognition and respect for a sacred placees or situations.

Emile Durkheim and Religion : Sociologist of religion, following Emile Durkheim are interested in understanding this sacred realm which every society distinguishes from the progave. In most cases, the sacred includes an element of the supernatural. Often the sared quality of a tree or a temple amues with the belief that it is sacred precisely because there is some supernatural force behind it. However, it is important to keep in mind that some religious like early buddhism and confucianism had no conception of the supernatural, but did allow sufficient reverence for things and persons which they considered sacred.

VII. Relationship of Religion with other social Institutions : Studying religion sociologically lets us ask questions about the relationship of religion with other social institutions. Religion has had a very close relationship with power and politics. For instance periodically in history there have been religious movements social change, like various anti-casate movements or movements against gender discrimination. Religion is not just a matter of the private belief of an individual but it also has a public character. And it is this public character of religion, which has an important bearing on other institution of society.

VIII. Relationship between Political and religious sphere : We have seen how sociology looks at power in a wide sense. It is look at the relationship between the political and religious sphere.Classical sociologists believed that as societies modernised, religion would because less influential over the various spheres of life. The concept seenlarisation describes this process. Contemporary events suggest a persisting role of religion various aspacts of society.

IX. Max Weber: A pioneering work by web weber (1864-1920) demenstrages how sociology looks at religion in its relationship to other aspects of social and economic behaviour. Weber or gives that caluinism (a branch of protestant Christianity) exerted an important influence on the emergence and growth of capitalism as a mode of economic organisation. The calivinists believed that the world was created for the glory of God, meaning that any work in this world had to be done for his glory, making even mundance work acts or worship. More importantly, however, the calvinists also believed in the concept of predestination, which meant that weather one will go to heaven or hell was pre-or dained.

X. Capitalism : At the heart of capitalism is the concept of investment, which is about investing capital to make more goods, which create more profit, which in term creates more profit, which in term creates more capital.Thus weber was able to agrue that religion, in this caste Calvinism, does have an influence on economic development.